STRATEGIC ADVISORY
FIRST XI CAPITAL
This page is not for everyone.
If you found it you were either referred here or you’ve been paying attention. Either way — read carefully. If this is right for you it will be obvious. If it isn’t — that’s useful information too.
WHAT THIS IS
I work with a small number of investors, entrepreneurs, and operators each year.
Most come from the sports and football world — American and global. It is where my network runs deepest, my track record is most specific, and the problems I have spent the most time solving. Club ownership. League launches. Facility operations. Market entry. Capitalization. Youth development at scale.
Some come from adjacent industries. Entrepreneurs building something real who need someone who has carried the risk themselves. Investors entering a new market who need honest perspective before committing capital. Operators who have built something and cannot see clearly why it has stopped growing.
The industry is less important than the situation. If the situation is one of the ones described on this page — the conversation is worth having.
My background spans both sides of the business. I have worked directly with Scottish Premier League club owners and advised investors pursuing MLB opportunities, American professional league launches, and global soccer acquisitions across Europe and beyond. I have helped launch professional leagues, clubs, and brands from the ground up — navigating the specific complexity of capitalization, ownership structure, and market entry that most advisors understand only theoretically.
On the operating side I co-own Charlottetowne Hops FC, a semi-professional club in the NPSL. I am a minority investor in a multi-club ownership structure with professional clubs in the USL Championship, Serie B in Italy, and expanding global football acquisitions planned for 2026. I operate highly successful youth training and development companies across the Carolinas, a futsal and small-sided soccer facility, and have launched and developed e-commerce brands from concept to market.
I carry the risk, make the decisions, and live with the outcomes across every layer of this business — not theoretically but actually and simultaneously.
When you sit across from me you are not getting advice from someone who has studied your industry. You are getting perspective from someone who has lived it at every level — from grassroots youth development to professional club ownership to global investment advisory.
My deepest expertise is in football and soccer. But the problems I solve — business model clarity, revenue architecture, ownership structure, market entry, organizational alignment — are not sport-specific. They are operator problems. And operators in any serious sports or business venture tend to face the same ones.
For a full picture of the portfolio and background visit the First XI Capital portfolio page and connect on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/casey-carr.
WHAT I AM NOT
I am not coming in to run your company.
I am not a project manager, an interim executive, or an operator for hire. I have my own portfolio to run.
What I am is the call you make before the most important decisions. The person who can sit with you for ninety minutes, listen to what is actually happening — not just what you think is happening — and tell you the three things you need to do next as if it were my own money on the line.
Most of the time the stated problem is not the real problem.
Finding the real problem quickly is what I do.
WHO THIS IS FOR
WHO THIS IS NOT FOR
You are building or operating something serious and one of the following is true.
You have an idea and know it has merit but cannot see clearly how to structure it, capitalize it, or execute it without expensive mistakes.
You have built something real — a club, a facility, a league, a brand — and hit a ceiling you cannot diagnose from inside the organization.
You are an investor or investment group evaluating American or global sports markets and need someone who understands the landscape, the economics, and where the real opportunities and landmines are — from someone who has represented those groups professionally and invested personally.
You are about to make a significant decision — a hire, a partnership, an investment, a pivot — and need someone who has made those decisions with real stakes involved.
You are not ready to make decisions.
You want validation more than challenge.
Your budget for strategic thinking is a conversation about whether you can afford it.
You are looking for someone to do the work rather than someone to think more clearly about the work with you.
You want a report.
If any of those describe where you are right now — this is not the right engagement at this time. Come back when it is.
WHAT AN ENGAGEMENT LOOKS LIKE
THE SIGNAL SESSION — $1,500
One session. Ninety minutes.
You bring the real situation — not the polished version. I listen, identify what is actually happening, and deliver three specific actionable next steps before the call ends.
No report. No follow-up document. No ongoing obligation unless we both decide it makes sense.
Most people get more clarity from this session than from months of trying to figure it out internally. That is not a sales line. It is what I hear back consistently.
This is the right starting point if you are not sure whether a longer engagement makes sense. It is also the right starting point if you are sure — because it ensures we are both clear on what we are working on before committing to more.
THE ENGAGEMENT — $5,000 to $7,500 per month
Minimum three months.
Two to four hours of direct access per week across calls, reviews, and key decisions.
A monthly priority memo — the three things that matter most this month, why they matter, and who owns each one.
Available for the specific moments that define whether a business moves forward or stays stuck — investor conversations, partnership negotiations, hiring decisions, business model pivots, organizational restructuring.
You are not adding a staff member. You are adding the strategic thinking that most organizations at your stage cannot afford full time and most consultants at any price cannot actually deliver.
THE BUILD PARTNERSHIP
For the right professional club build, league launch, or serious sports venture where my involvement from day one creates disproportionate value — a structure involving equity or revenue participation is available.
One of these per year. If you are building something at this level and want a partner who has done it — not just advised on it — this is the conversation worth having.
HOW TO START
One email.
Tell me what you are building or where you are stuck. Be specific. The more honest and specific you are the faster I can tell you whether this is the right fit.
If it is — we schedule the Signal Session and go from there.
If it is not — I will tell you that directly and point you toward what is.
No intake form. No discovery call to schedule a discovery call. One email to the address below and a direct response within 48 hours.
If you need to think about whether you can afford this — you are not the right fit right now. The right client already knows the answer to that question.
C